Work glove and method of making same



March 19, 1957 M. L. ZELENKA Q 2,785,412

WORK GLOVE AND METHOD OF MAKING SAME Filed Dec. 1, 1952 WORK GLOVE AND METHOD OF MAKHJG SAME Michael L. Zelenka, Chicago, ill.

Application December 1, 1952, Serial No. 323,359

6 Claims. (Cl. 2-169) This invention pertains to an improved type of a glove. More particularly it is directed to industrial heavy duty gloves worn by workmen doing heavy manual labor and who require some adequate protection for their hands while working. Specifically it is directed to a seamless work-area thumb type of a work glove.

Though there are many types of work gloves, the ones preferred by workers employed in heavy industries such as millwrights, stearnfitters, founders, steel men, welders and similar trades constantly handling rough castings, timbers, metal ware and the like, are those made of durable and tough leather. Generally these gloves are all leather, but for economy may be of cloth with inserts of leather worked into the glove per se, or sections of leather may be sewn over the fabric in the desired position to protect the glove at points of most wear and use. There are innumerable variations but nevertheles all directed to the objective of giving the utmost wear, comfort and protection to the user.

Welders gloves for instance are a type of heavy duty work gloves. Molten metals frequently spatter about the gloved hands of the welder and any projections thereon such as unnecessary seams, inserts, etc., may entrap and hold the spattered material. Clearly such hot metals must be brushed off immediately, or if necessary the entire glove removed to avoid serious burns. Therefore welders require gloves that can be readily and quickly removed and at the same time must be sturdy and have a long life. Strangely enough, welders gloves though scarred by fire, spattered with hot metals and sparks, wear more rapidly at about the thumb and forefinger portions and the palm area contiguous thereto. These points are in constant contact with the tools, rods or work pieces held in the hands and thus are being constantly chafed and abraded. In spite of the heavy wear occasioned at these areas, it has been shown that the areas contiguous and adjacent to the seams and the seams themselves where they are raised ever so slightly above the adjacent general surface area, receive most of the wear and bear the brunt of the abrading action and pressure by anything held in the gloved hand. These areas wear out long before the re mainder of the glove even begins to show signs of wear. Obviously a worn out thumb or finger in a glove gives no protection to the hand and renders the entire glove useless to the user. Besides it definitely is a hazard to the safety of wearer and exposes the flesh to the possible contact with spattering metal.

I not only provide a heavy duty, more safe and more durable work glove but because of the special features in corporated in the construction of my improved glove, I also obtain a better fitting and more natural hand contour appearance since my improved thumb construction places the glove thumb in a more natural grasping position that simulates very closely the normal grasping clasp. of a hand. Besides these advantages, 1 am particularly pleased that the economies of production are quite favorable. There are less seam sewing operations, less material and thread, less training is required to aid inexperienced help J all and the improved construction is very versatile since it can be adapted to all types of gloves either dress or work or others which employ a seam construction about the crotch or the thumb, forefinger and contiguous palm areas; Not only do I have appreciable and marked savings in the actual sewing operations, but also I elfect economies in cutting as well, since less handling is required of the material for my improved glove construction requires the thumb portion to be an integral part of the palm trank.

Though my invention can be applied to all types of gloves, the principles underlying it for illustration only will be applied to the so called Gunn type glove having a seamless forefinger and which is illustrated in the attached drawings forming a part of this disclosure. It is not intended to be a limitation of the application of the principles underlying my invention, for they can be applied to all classes of sewn or seamed gloves, whether work or dress, and whether made of leather, cloth, plastic, rubber, etc., entirely or partly or in various combinations thereof.

It therefore is an object of my invention to provide a seamed glove having a construction where the crotch and the surfaces contiguous thereto on the facing areas of the forefinger and thumb portions are free of seams.

A further object of my invention is to provide a construction for a seamed glove wherein the thumb and tore finger portions are an integral part of the palm section whereby the contacting surfaces in facing relationship between the said forefinger and thumb portions as well as the crotch thereof are free of seams.

A still further object of my improved glove construction is to provide a glove that has no seam on the face of the palm area contiguous to the thumb crotch or between the thumb and forefinger portions.

An additional and still further object. of my invention is to provide a glove with an improved thumb construction in which there are no seams or raised surfaces thereon or on the contiguous palm surfaces adjacent the thumb portion.

Another object of my invention is to provide a glove with a unique thumb construction that is safer, easily removable and substantially free about the palm-thumb area of any projections or seams which may be trapped in machinery or which may entrap spattered hot materials and metals.

An additional object of my invention is to provide a process for sewing my improved glove quickly, easily and without any extensive period of training of operators.

An additional but not final object of my invention is to rovide a glove of an improved type, economical to pro duce, endowed with better wearing characteristics and more comfortable to the user thereof than the convers tional glove having seams about the thumb-forefingerpalm-crotch area.

These and other objects, variations, modifications, extensions and adaptations will become readily apparent to those skilled in this art, in view of the clear, detailed description and application of the fundamental concepts underlying the principles of my invention as particularly adapted to a preferred embodiment selected specifically for exemplary reasons only and not as an implied or direct admission of the limitation of these principles, and which are further illustrated in the annexed drawing forming a part hereof.

Therefore Figure l is a view of the front or palm portion of my improved glove.

Figure 2 is a View of the reverse side of Figure l, or the back of the glove.

' Figure 3 is the elevational View of the blank for the palm of Figure 1.

Figure 4 is an elevational view or" the blank of Figure 3 partly in phantom showing the thumb and forefinger portions thereof folded rearwardly ready to receive the back of the glove, while Figure is an elevational View of the reverse side of Figure 4.

Figure 6 is a diagrammatic representation showing how the back portion and the palm portion with the infolded thumb are about to be joined in the process of sewing.

In the drawings, certain elements thereof are identified with numerals and these same numerals are employed hereinbelow to identify the same elements described in detail hereafter in conjunction with the illustration which is apart of this disclosure.

Essentially my invention comprises a palm blank 10 formed from one piece or trank in which the thumb portion 12 and the forefinger portion 14 are an integral unit so cut from the material such as leather, fabric, etc., in accord with the general pattern shown in Figure 3. In case of a Gunn type of glove, which is used for illustrative purposes only, the small finger portion 16 can also be formed from the same blank or trank of material to facilitate further processing and decrease cost of manufacture. Clute type gloves, fourchettes or other types can be made without departing from the principal objective of this invention which is to provide a seamless construction at the point of most wear.

The thumb portion 12 as well as the forefinger or index finger portion 14 are respectively folded over along lines 22 and 24 respectively in such a manner that from the tip 13 of the thumb portion l2. to the tip 23 of the index finger portion 14 there is a continuous unbroken surface 24 and 22 respectively through the crotch portion 30.

In the preferred modification at about the tips 1% and 23 respectively of the thumb and index fingers 12 and 14 respectively, there are sewn scams 3% and 4-8 respectively to form respectively the thumb portion 12 and index finger portion These seams are so made that they fall along the outer edge and away from the crotch between the thumb 12 and forefinger 14 and the vertical contiguous areas in facing juxtaposition.

It is obvious now that the palm blank or trank It and the blank integral portions of the thumb 12. as well as the blank integral portions of the index finger 14 can be varied sufficiently and can be so designed that the edges thereof can be sewn together to form a seam that will be on the back part of the thumb and/ or finger respectively.

In this connection, it may be mentioned that the pattern of the palm portion 19 and specifically the thumb section 12 may be varied in size, or may consist of a number of inserts placed rearwardly of the frontal, palm or work grasping area or" the thumb section without detraction to the merits of my invention. Though the preferred embodiment shows only one seam placed on the rearward surface of the thumb, obviously I can utilize smaller pieces if necessary and have a number of seams to form the back of the thumb 12. The same will be true of the forefinger or mitten construction where more than one seam if desired, can be placed on the back of glove for material economies or decor.

The important element of my invention lies in the formation of a glove with a thumb that is absolutely free of any seam or inserts such as welts within the area facing the palm surface or the contiguous area in a facing relation to the forefinger as Well as adjacent palm areas thereto which are or may be exposed to and in contacting juxtaposition to the work grasping environment.

Obviously the middle fingers 15 and 17 are inserted and sewn to the palm portion 10 along the seam line 13 and with the integral parts 19 and 21 of the back portion 11. However, these are not a part of my invention but are only illustrated to show the application of the principles in connection with the construction of the Gunn type of glove. inv case of the mitten or other types, the

same principles underlying my invention can be readily applied by a person skilled in this art..

The thumb portion 12 and finger portion 14 are attached to the back 11 of the glove by any suitable means such as a thread to form a seam 2b. This seam 20 starts at the point 52 which is nearest the crotch between the first and second finger portions and runs along the back surface of the glove and does not come in contact with anything held between the thumb and finger.

Since it is somewhat difficult to visualize the process of joining the back trank and the palm trank, the Figure 6 shows diagrammatically how this is accomplished. The actual sewing operation begins with the step of setting the front sections of the middle fingers 15 and 17 along the line 13 of Figure 1. These for sake of clarity have been omitted from Figure 6. It is a well known operation and there is no need to describe it here. After the fingers Z5 and 17 are joined, I next place the outermost point 5% of the trank 10 in juxtaposition with the point 52 of the back trank 11. Figure 4 shows how the fold will look before the step of joining the palm trank 1t) and back trank ill. I then proceed sewing the edges 20a and 20b of the trank ltl (see Figures 3 and 6) to the edge 40a of the back trank 11. As this sewing operation is carried out, the edges 20a and 20b are simultaneously and gradually positioned along line iiia to form a more or less straight linear seam 40 (see Figure 2) which ends where point 51 on the palm trank 10 and point 53 on the back trank 11 meet. This operation gradually positions forwardly the thumb from that original position shown in Figure 4 to the natural thumb on the hand position as it appears sub stantially in Figures 1 and 2. The seam 4% thus produced is a continuous, substantially straight line joint lying wholly on the back portion or trank 11 of the glove. To complete the thumb and enclose it, a simple seam is stitched from the tip 18 of the thumb along the outer joined edges 33 to the bottom of the said thumb portion where points 54 and 55 meet. Thus the crotch area 30 and the contiguous surfaces 24 and 22 on the forefinger and the thumb respectively as well as adjacent area on the palm portion of the front trank iii are free of seams. The additional components required to complete the glove are then added in the usual manner.

In using this improved construction and method of making my glove, I reduce greatly the number of cutting operations with an obvious savings in the labor of cutting and increased production for there is less handling by the cutters. Also by reducing the number of pieces that must be sewn together and inserted into the glove, I not only save on the operators time but obtain increased production from the sewing machine operators for they can sew more quickly without fear of jamming the machine or slowing down when crossing seams for there are no seams to cross in my improved thumb construction. Likewise the sewing operations are greatly simplified for the operator has straight seams to make, can run the machine at high speed for there are no sharp corners or turns to make and does not need to stop to orient herself or her work into a particular pattern for the one piece construction of the improved thumb allows the work to fall into a natural flow that is smooth, facile and quickly completed in a straight linear fashion without hesitation or stoppage by the operator. In using my improved thumb construction I obtain about a seventy five percent savings in the cost of thumbing upon comparison with the conventional type of thumbing operations.

If desired gauntlets such as 42 or knitted wrists can be attached to the glove by any means such as thread to form seam 44. Likewise, padding or patch 46 can be inserted and sewn into to form a part of the construction of the glove itself.

Though the drawing is specifically directed to a preferred embodiment showing a seamless forefinger construction, it is apparent that the frontal seamless thumb construction can be used without modification-in conjunction with a seamed forefinger or the mitten type construction wherein a seam joins the palm and back portions thereof along the sides of fingers or hand.

The term seam as employed in this disclosure refers to a joint between two or more pieces of material. It can be sewn, laced, adhesively secured, or welded by means of heat or pressure as in case of certain thermoplastic and/ or thermosetting materials. Obviously, the materials used in making gloves vary widely depending primarily on the use that the glove is intended to be put to. These materials may be leather, cloth, felt, asbestos, rubber of the sewn" or welded type, plastics, such as polyvinyl, polyethylene, etc., as well as other synthetic elastomers. These materials may be used alone or in any combination thereof. Likewise, they may be lined or unlined, studded or otherwise surface treated to prevent slippage, etc. The term glove as employed herein refers to gloves with or without fingers, but having an independent thumb con-- struction. The term crotch as used herein is defined to include those surfaces between the thumb and tore finger (and in case of mittens, the inside surface next alongside the thumb) as well as the contiguous areas adjacent the vertex between the thumb and forefinger considered a part of the palm blank and integrally formed therefrom. The term outer surface is defined as that portion of the glove away from the work grasping area or environment.

Though the above description is directed to a preferred type of an embodiment in which the principles underlying this invention are employed and applied for purely exemplary reasons, it is not intended to be confined to the specific illustrations for manifestly the fundamental concepts underlying these principles can be applied equally as well to other types and embodiments, and which principles are defined by the hereunto appended claims.

I claim:

1. An improved glove comprising a palm trank including thumb and finger segments, a parting defining said thumb and finger segments, the said parting directed toward the medial line of said thumb segment and also at an angle less than ninety degrees in relation to the medial line, if extended, of said finger segment; a thumb stall and a finger stall formed by folding the edges of said thumb and finger segments about their respective medial lines in an edge-to-edge relationship, a seamless crotch between said thumb stall and said finger stall, a back trank and a means to secure said thumb stalled and finger stalled palm trank with said back trank, whereby a glove is formed that is seamless between the thumb and finger segments and contiguous palm areas.

2. An improved glove comprising a palm trank including thumb and finger segments, a parting defining said thumb and said finger segments, the said parting directed toward the medial line of said thumb segment and also at an acute angle in relation to the medial line, if extended, of said finger segment; a thumb stall formed by folding the edges of said thumb segment about its medial line, a finger stall formed by folding backwardly the edges of said segment, a back trank and a means to secure said folded backwardly edges of said finger segment and said thumb stall to said back trank whereby a glove is formed that is seamless between the thumb and finger stalls and contiguous palm areas.

3. An improved seamless thumb and forefinger crotch glove comprising a palm trank including not less than thumb and finger segments, the said segments formed by a cut-out extending into said trank for a preselected distance at an acute angle to the vertical line of said finger segment, a thumb stall and a finger stall formed by folding respectively the edges of said thumb and finger segments in an edge-to-edge relationship about their respective medial lines, a means to secure said edges in such a relationship, the said securing means lying substantially on the back of said formed thumb and finger stalls, and a back trank attached in juxtaposition to said palm trank including the said thumb stall and said finger stall to form a glove characterized by a seam free thumb and forefinger crotch.

4. A new and improved type of a seam construction glove whereby the work grasping sections thereof are free of seams, comprising a blank of material, a palm segment, a thumb segment and a finger segment formed integrally fro-m said blank, the said thumb segment and said finger segment separated by a cut-out substantially perpendicular to said thumb segment and each of said segments folded respectively rearwardly to make a junction between their respective edges and form respectively a thumb receiving stall and a finger receiving stall, a crotch btween said thumb receiving stall and said finger receiving stall, the said crotch and area-s of the said blank contiguous to said crotch on said thumb receiving stall and said finger receiving stall as well as on said pahn segment free of junction-s, a backing blank of selected configuration with edges thereof co-extensive with the unsecured edges of said blank, said thumb receiving stall and said finger receiving stall, and a means to secure said edges in juxtaposition to form therein seams, the said seams disposed about the said backing blank surface and about the perimeter of said glove.

5. The method of making a seamless crotch glove comprising the steps of cutting suitable tranks for the front and for the back of a glove, the said front trank including a palm portion, a thumb portion and a finger portion, separating the said thumb and said finger portions along a line substantially perpendicular to the medial line of said thumb portion and at an angle less than ninety degrees in relation to the medial line, if extended, of said finger portion, aligning the uppermost edge below the forefinger portion of the said front trank with a related "point on the edge of said back trank, forming progressively between said edges a junction characterized by its substantial linearity, simultaneously shaping substantially the said thumb portion into a thumb stall, joining the longitudinal edges of said thumb stall and other sections of said tranks to form therefrom a glove characterized by a junction between the thumb portion and forefinger portion lying on the back of said glove.

6. The method of making a seamless crotch glove comprising the steps of cutting suitable tranks for the front and for the back of a glove, the said front trank being larger than the said back trank; dividing said front trank into integrally connected segments for a thumb, a palm and at least a finger, by cutting into the said trank substantially perpendicularly toward a medial line of the said thumb segment and at an angle less than ninety degrees in relation to the medial line of the said finger segment, folding the longitudinal edges of said thumb segment about its medial line, in an edge-to-edge relationship to form a thumb stall, folding the edges of said finger segment backwardly, aligning the uppermost side edge at about the base of said finger portion in juxtaposition with a related point on the back trank, joining the said aligned points, progressively forming a junction between the related edges on said palm trank and said back trank, securing the edges of said junction, positioning simultaneously the thumb stall in its proper relation to the said palm while securing the edges of said junction, and securing the perimeter edges of said tranks and inserts therein to form a hand covering characterized by a seamless crotch between the thumb and adjacent finger section of said covering.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 378,834 Gunn Feb. 28, 1888 635,269 Perlinsky Oct. 17, 1899 708,160 Morgan Sept. 2, 1902 883,334 Newman Mar. 31, 1908 978,232 Stein et al Dec. 13, 1910 1,479,118 Vincin Jan. 1, 1924 2,074,893 Dunn Mar. 23, 1937 2,219,501 Wickman 2. Oct. 29, 1940 2,596,349 Thurlow et al. May 13, 1952 2,642,573 Huck June 23, 1953 

